Even if companies pledge to making women the majority of new hires, redressing the gender imbalance at companies like Facebook, Apple, and Google could take more than a decade, according to Jennifer Saba in an article at Reuters Breakingviews. In the age of #MeToo, Silicon Valley firms face new scrutiny about male dominance in their labor force. Reuters also provides a handy calculator to project when a company could achieve gender parity.
Key quotes:
- “[A]t 200 companies surveyed, women made up 36 percent of entry level positions in the technology sector but just 27 percent of middle-management positions. The figures were worse for positions at vice-president level or above.”
- “Say Google, Facebook and Apple committed to 51 percent of new staff being women – pretty close to the overall makeup of the labor market.
- “Based on the rate their workforces expanded last year, and assuming one in five existing workers quit and are replaced annually, it would take Apple 15 years to reach parity. Google would do it in 14, and Facebook in a faster-but-still-slow seven years.
- “Small steps make a big difference. Set a truly bold goal of six in 10 new hires being women, keeping all else constant, and all three companies would achieve parity within six years.”
Inside the tech industry, efforts like #CauseAScene raise the issue of “inclusion and diversity as the latest marketing buzz words” rather than occasioning substantive change. The sorts of efforts that Saba points to in her article could well occasion real change in Big Tech. Concern about the gender gap in the workforce complements SGI’s work in Racial Justice Investing. Making workforce composition more transparent will help industry leaders, investors, and stakeholders take meaningful steps toward an authentically inclusive and diverse workforce.
Seventh Generation Interfaith Coalition for Responsible Investing 